Please contact us with the name of the public authority and,
if you can find it, their contact email address for Freedom of Information requests.

What can I do to ensure my request has the best chance of getting answered?#

Please put in your request only what is needed so that someone can
easily identify what information you are asking for.

If you want information to support an argument or campaign, Freedom of
Information is a powerful tool. Although you may not use this site to
run your campaign, we encourage you to use it to get the information you
need. We also encourage to run your campaign elsewhere seeking advice from organisations such as LFIC or iLab who can support you.

The search for and provision of requested information shall be done free of charge to the requester, but a public entity may charge such amount as is necessary to cover actual cost of photocopying, transcribing, scanning or other forms of reproduction.

Sometimes there has been a genuine problem and the authority never
received the request. It is worth telephoning the authority and politely
checking that they received the request. You should mention it was sent to them by email.

If you're still having no luck, then you can ask for an internal review,
and then complain to the Information Commissioner about the request.
Read our page 'Unhappy about the response you got?'. There is also a telephone number on that page so you can phone the office of the Information Commissioner if you need to.

InfoLib is currently only designed for public requests. All
responses that we receive are automatically published on the website for anyone
to read.

You should contact the public authority directly if you would like to
make a request in private.

Can I make the same to request to lots of authorities, e.g. all councils? #

We ask you to first send a test version of your request to a few
authorities. Their responses will help you improve the wording of your request,
so that you get the best information when you send the request to all of
the authorities. There is currently no automated system for sending the request
to the other authorities, you must copy and paste it by hand.

InfoLib is an archive of requests made through the site,
and does not try to be an archive of all FOI requests. We'll never support uploading
other requests, like those made by an individual not through InfoLib. For one thing, we wouldn't be able to verify that other
responses actually came from the authority. If this really matters to you,
you can always channel your request through an LFIC office and they will archive it on to InfoLib on your behalf. So, if your request has come through one of LFIC's network then uploading it will be dealt with by the representative you spoke to. This person will also let you know if and when you get the information.